Tushar Gandhi LET’S KILL GANDHI: A CHRONICLE OF HIS LAST DAYS, THE CONSPIRACY, MURDER, INVESTIGATION, TRIALS AND THE KAPUR COMMISSION

by Tushar Gandhi

Since then, many lies have been passed off as truths; half-truths have been mixed with true incidents and passed off as whole truths. 'Gandhi was responsible for Partition'; 'Gandhi favoured Muslims and abandoned Hindus'; 'Killing Gandhi was the only way to save Hindu India'; 'Murdering Gandhi was an act of patriotism'; 'Gandhi gifted ₹55 crores to Pakistan'-these were, and even today are, some of the statements propagated by Hindu extremist organizations and worshippers of Nathuram Godse, the murderer. This book is written to put the facts straight. Written by Gandhi's great-grandson Tushar Gandhi, Let's Kill Gandhi! deals with facts gleaned from a lot of verbal history, from books, archival material, from the records of the murder trial and investigations, from books written by the defence lawyers and judges, from newspaper reports, the report of the J.L. Kapur Commission of Inquiry and from what Tushar grew up hearing in the family. Never in the history of political murders has such a nexus of human errors, procedural foul-ups, and sheer apathy colluded to allow a bunch of bungling amateurs to succeed so easily. This book is a chronicle of the conspiracy that goes beyond Nathuram Godse, Gandhi's murderer. Written by none other than Mahatma Gandhi's great-grandson. The book puts the facts regarding Gandhi's death straight. A well-researched account of the murder, trial and investigations around one of the most debated events in the Indian history.

Genres: History

696 pages, Paperback

First published January 25, 2007

Reviews

[Arunayan Sharma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too much information and some unwanted irreverent issues spoiled its purpose.

[Dr.Madan Bhimsen Jadhav · Rating 5 out of 5]

#लेट्स_किल_गांधी!

लेखक- तुषार गांधी. मराठी अनुवाद- अजित ठाकूर.
प्रकाशक- मेहता पब्लिशिंग हाऊस.
प्रथमावृत्ती- २०१०. पृष्ठे- ८०३. किंमत- रु.६९५/-

आज गांधी पुण्यतिथी! या निमित्ताने आज मी आपल्यासोबत वरील पुस्तकाबाबत माझा अनुभव शेअर करीत आहे.
तसं पाहता मी गांधींपेक्षा भगत सिंग, चंद्रशेखर आझाद यांना जास्त मानणारा एक नागरिक... आजही आहे... परंतु ‘गांधी’ या व्यक्तीमत्वाविषयी माझ्या असणार्या संकल्पनाना गेल्या काही वर्षांमध्ये तडे जात आहेत. नरहर कुरुंदकर यांच्या ‘जागर’, ‘शिवरात्र’ पुस्तकांनी या संकल्पनांना पहिला छेद दिला.. आणि मग यातून सुरु झाला एक प्रवास.. ’गांधी शोधाचा’ प्रवास... ज्यातील अगदी अलीकडचा टप्पा म्हणजे ‘लेट्स किल गांधी!’ हे पुस्तक...
या पुस्तकाला सुरुवात करताना मी थोडा साशंकच होतो कि गांधींच्या नातवाने हे पुस्तक लिहिले आहे म्हणजे जाणीवपूर्वक गांधींना उजवं माप दिलं असणार आणि गोडसेआदि लोकांना शक्य तितकं खलनायक ठरविण्याचा प्रयत्न केला असणार.
या पुस्तकामध्ये तीन भागांमध्ये विभाजित केलेले एकूण १४ प्रकरणे आहेत. पहिल्या भागात गांधी हत्येचा पूर्ण ‘आंखो देखा’,गांधी हत्येमध्ये आरोपी असणार्या प्रत्येकाची वैयक्तिक माहिती व त्यांचे कारनामे, ९ जानेवारी १९४८ ते ३० जानेवारी १९४८ यातील प्रत्येक दिवसाच्या घडामोडी, पोलिस तपासातील गोंधळ, गांधी हत्येचे फसलेले सात प्रयत्न यांचं विवरण आहे. दुसर्या भागात स्वातंत्र्य मिळण्यापुर्वीच्या काही वर्षांमधील राजकीय परिस्थिती, फाळणीला कारणीभूत व्यक्ती आणि घटना, नेहरू आणि पटेल यांच्याशी गांधींचे होणारे मतभेद व एकाकी गांधी, त्यावेळचा हिंसेचा उद्रेक आणि ती हिंसा रोखण्यासाठी गांधींनी केलेले प्रयत्न यांच्याविषयी माहिती आहे. तर तिसर्या भागात गांधीहत्येची लाल किल्यातील विशेष न्यायालय सुनावणी, आरोपींची अपिले व शिक्षेची अंमलबजावणी, आणि १९६७ साली गांधीहत्येची चौकशी साठी नेमल्या गेलेल्या कपूर आयोगाचा अहवाल यावर विस्तृत माहिती दिलेली आहे.
या पुस्तकाविषयी माझं मत देताना मी सर्वप्रथम हे मान्य करेन कि लेखकाने अगदी काटेकोरपणे आणि तटस्थपणे आपणासमोर इतिहास उघडून ठेवला आहे. त्यांनी कोणालाही झुकतं माप दिलेलं नाही. जे काही लिहिलंय ते पुराव्यांना धरूनच लिहिलंय. त्यामुळे हे पुस्तक वाचताना आपण देखील निरपेक्ष वृत्तीनेच सर्व घटनांकडे पाहत राहतो. हे या लेखकाचं यश आहे असं मला वाटतं. सर्व पुस्तक वाचून झाल्यानंतर मी पुन्हा एकवार जेंव्हा पुस्तकाची प्रस्तावना वाचत होतो त्यावेळी मला माझ्या बहुतांशी प्रश्नांची उत्तरे मिळत गेली. ‘हिंदुस्थानच्या फाळणीस फक्त गांधीच जबाबदार होते’, ‘गांधींनी हिंदूंना वार्यावर सोडले होते’, ‘गांधींनी मुसलमानांचे अवाजवी लाड केले’, ‘गांधींनी पाकिस्तानला ५५ कोटी देण्यासाठी भारत सरकारला भाग पाडले’, ‘भारतमातेला वाचविण्यासाठी गांधींना मारणे हाच एक पर्याय होता’......वगैरे वगैरे सगळ्या आक्षेपांना पुराव्यानिशी उत्तरे मिळवून दिलीत या पुस्तकाने....
कोणे एके काळी अज्ञानाच्या अंधकारातून गांधी नामक व्यक्तिमत्वाला मी शिव्या घातल्या होत्या. आजच्या या दिवशी मी फक्त इतकंच म्हणेन..

#बापू_मला_माफ_करा

[Mallaharish]

its a chronicle ...and has a viewpoint of some person of Gandhian bloodline(his great grandson)...got to know about events of national importance...got corrected about something very much relevant to my nation

[Iqra Tasmiae]

http://www.openthemagazine.com/articl...

[EstelleLiterature · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading the book on Kastur Gandhi, the wife of Mahatma Gandhi, by this author, I sampled this book that has a political orientation, something I don't usually read, but, given my discovery on Gandhi's wife from this author's previous book, I decided to give it a try. For me, Gandhi stays more a spiritual figure than political; yet his spiritual actions have political consequences around the world.

This book dispelled an overused cliché about the British Empire: their 'divide and rule' policy; in case of India, using religion. When Nathuram Godse, a Hindu extremist dressed as Muslim, shot Gandhi three times, the assassin also wanted to start a religious civil war between Hindus and Muslims. The assassin's strategy almost worked, a war was about to start at the news of Gandhi's death, and the man who saved India from this war wasn't an Indian; he was British, the viceroy Mountbatten! He recognized Godse as a notorious Hindu extremist and rushed to send out this message to India.

The man who saved Paris from Hitler's wrath was German, not French. The man who turned in Jean Moulin was French, not German. The man who let Kastur Gandhi die in prison was also the man who helped De Gaule to free France. As it is impossible to label a human, so it is true for a nation.

[Balasubramaniam Vaidyanathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a tedium to complete the book. I like books written with balanced point of view, bereft of hard emotions & hyperbole statements. Mr. Tushar Gandhi expresses his rage throughout the book, with accusing statements. He casts aspersions on almost everybody ( From Patel to Morarji Desai, apart from the usual Mahasabha, Sangh, Savarkar etc) without an inclination to understand the circumstances they operated. Yes, there was slip in handling the investigations by Bombay and Delhi police before Gandhiji’s murder. But that’s about it.

The book is written based on the court trials & Kapur commission. You get lot of facts. Had he controlled his rage while writing and stuck to narrating the proceedings, It would have been a fantastic book. Probably after completion of narrating the events, He could have written an essay commenting on the events. That would have made the book lot better. Tushar should learn from his ‘First Cousin - Once removed’ on how to write in a balanced way.

There is a Kannada Film ‘Koormavatara’ by Girish Kasaravalli. It is a wonderful film - where an accidental actor playing the role of Gandhi will actually get qualities of Gandhi. That is the power & magic of Gandhi. Tushar should watch it - he has a pedigree and he should live upto those ideals…

[Arun R]

comprehensive research done on the subject. Good read.

[MADHUSOOTHANAN · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of research and efforts have gone in to it. Found it to be but too long and boring at places. But a collector’s material though.

[Pratap Divyesh · Rating 3 out of 5]

good but comprehensive.